Travel: Landmark Chihuly Exhibit at Biltmore Estate

Marci DeWolf More Content Now

Friday

Jul 13, 2018 at 2:07 PMJul 13, 2018 at 9:10 PM

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — The Biltmore Estate, America’s largest private home, has unveiled its first art exhibition ever in its historic gardens featuring “Chihuly at Biltmore.” The exhibition showcases the works of globally renowned artist Dale Chihuly.

An artistic leader in the use of glass as fine art, Chihuly is celebrated for large-scale architectural installations that have enchanted viewers around the world. The “Chihuly at Biltmore” exhibition spotlights awe-inspiring artworks in both the Biltmore house and the gardens.

The Biltmore estate’s extensive landscaped vistas are ideal locations for these dramatic, massive sculptures that combine brilliant colors and striking forms set in century-old gardens. Chihuly’s unique presentation of vivid “Red Reeds” — some reaching to l0 feet — mesmerizing towers and myriad plant forms are shaped by the artist’s unique vision that broke all boundaries of glass as an art form.

Visitors first see a glistening representation of “The Sun” on the Biltmore’s expansive front lawn. This is the tallest installation at 13.5 feet. The “Float Boats” fill the Italian Garden with multi-colored glass spheres inspired by Japanese fishing floats. The Walled Garden presents two vibrant towers, one of which was created just for the Biltmore exhibit.

Inside the main house, the glass conservatory is the setting for three dramatic chandeliers, one of the artist’s most iconic series, comprised of glass forms in varying, elegant hues. The chandeliers are made from as many as 1,000 pieces of glass carefully arranged to form an intricate suspension of glass ... bulbous, long and twisted, short and spiraled. These glowing sculptures are not internally lit, however. Rather, the glass elements are externally illuminated to show colors of amber, citron and and teal.

“I want people to be overwhelmed with light and color in some way that they’ve never experienced,” Chihuly once said about his art work.

Chihuly nights at Biltmore

For the first time, the Biltmore’s gardens are open at night. The artist’s works are stunningly illuminated from sunset to dusk on select evenings. Guests can take in sunset views over the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains; enjoy live music in the gardens; and choose from a selection of wines from an alfresco wine bar.

This unique immersive visual exhibit took two years of planning and preparation. Garden plantings developed in collaboration between Chihuly and Biltmore’s landscape teams complement the exquisite artworks throughout the estate.

The estate’s gardens, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, known as the father of American landscape architecture, serve as a living backdrop for Chihuly’s works.

The estate has several choices for visitors: The Antler Village and Winery, a variety of restaurants, an ice cream shop, and a small animal farm that delights children.

There is a wide selection of lodgings in nearby Asheville, but many guests choose to extend their Biltmore visit by staying on the premises at either the Inn on Biltmore Estate or the Village Hotel.

Dale Chihuly is one of America’s premier artists. His works are on display in more than 200 museum collections worldwide.

The exhibit at the Biltmore runs through October 7. For information, visit www.biltmore.com/chihuly. Or call: 1-800-411-3812.

— Marci DeWolf, a widely published travel journalist whose articles have appeared in more than 60 newspapers and magazines, is the owner of Travel News Service.

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